


Loving Trouble

by RunWithWolves



Series: 30 Days of Creampuff [11]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: 30DaysofCreampuff, Cop Car, F/F, love in unusual places
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 06:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4009576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunWithWolves/pseuds/RunWithWolves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Starting from the time-out mat in kindergarten to handcuffs in the back of a cop car, as hard as Laura tries to keep herself out of trouble being friends with Carmilla Karnstein tends to land her in hot water. </p>
<p>Even if that other kid totally deserved to have his apple juice switched with glue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loving Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> Taking requests now for stories the week of June 1! See bottom notes for details.

As the kindergarten class buzzed with energy around her, Laura was sitting all alone. Her feet dangled, barely touching the floor, as she slowly colouring a picture of a dinosaur and tried not to cry. Peeking through her brown hair she looked over at the other side of the classroom at the black haired boy.

Johnny MacPherson. The boy with icing smeared all over his face from eating her chocolate cupcake.Just because she’d told him that he was a mean stupidhead. Which he was. 

And the teacher hadn’t even done anything and those were her Mom’s special cupcakes.

Instead, the teacher had told her to stop making trouble and to sit in this chair and not move.

Laura sniffed and a fat tear imprinted itself on the paper right above the dinosaur’s head. She shoved her chubby little fists in her eyes and tried to forcibly stop the tears. Someone plopped into the seat beside her and Laura turned away, still rubbing her eyes.

“Have you ever eaten glue?” A new voice asked.

The oddness of the question had Laura turning slightly. She scrunched her nose, “Ew, no.”

“Me neither.” The voice beside her seemed almost bored. Laura opened her fists and wiped her eyes, sitting next to her was a fine boned black haired girl. Carmilla. Laura remembered from when the teacher had made them play the name game. 

Laura frowned slightly, “Why would I eat glue?”

Carmilla shrugged and focused on her own drawing, switching from the red to blue crayons. Laura’s blue crayon. 

“I was using that.” Laura said, trying to grab the crayon back.

Carmilla still didn’t look up. She just slid further down the table. “But I needed it.”

Determined not to get herself in anymore trouble, Laura kept her butt firmly in the chair as mandated by the teacher. Squirming in her seat, Laura shuffled the chair to follow Carmilla down the table as she tried to see what Carmilla was drawing that so desperately demanded that particular blue crayon. Carmilla just kept sliding down the table, letting Laura chase after her.

Laura was still desperately shuffling when Carmilla finally looked at her. The two girls were on opposite sides the table. “Did you know,” Carmilla said, “That Johnny eats glue?”

“Really?” Laura’s eyes widened.

“Mmhmm,” Carmilla looked back down at her drawing, “At least, he’s about to eat glue.” With a quick smile, Carmilla pointed across the room. 

Laura’s head whirled around. Carmilla was pointing at the bright red cup in Johnny’s hand, with his name written across the side in big letters.

With a shake of her head, Laura bit her lip and looked back at Carmilla, “That’s juice.”

Carmilla looked around the classroom for the teacher, “I put glue in it,” she said.

Laura’s hands flew to her mouth as a loud shout came from across the room. 

Two minutes later, both girls were sitting on the ‘time-out’ mat. 

“But I didn’t do it!” Laura insisted as the teacher walked away, “I stayed in the chair and everything.” When the teacher didn’t return, Laura turned to Carmilla, ‘You got me in trouble!”

Carmilla crossed her arms, “You got me in trouble!”

“You put the glue in his cup.” Laura said.

“You called him a stupid meanie face who is mean.” Carmilla said.

Laura threw her hands in the air, “He was mean to Laf. My mom says that we have to stand up for other people.” Across the room, Laura could see Laf playing with Perry by the building blocks. 

“He was mean to you too,” Carmilla said, staring at the ground, “And you didn’t do anything.”

Laura played with the velcro on her shoe, “But he stopped being mean to Laf.”

“I’m sorry I got you in trouble,” Laura looked over, Carmilla’s voice seemed so small. Her crossed arms appearing more as a self hug than an angry gesture.

Scooting over on the mat, Laura leaned close to Carmilla’s ear, “You want to know a secret?”

Carmilla nodded.

“Johnny made a really funny face when he ate the glue.” Just thinking about it made Laura giggle, “Johnny ate glue. He ate glue. That’s so gross!” Carmilla looked up, her arms loosening slightly as Laura giggled and smiled at her. 

“He’s a glue eater,” Carmilla whispered back, “I bet his insides stick together.”

Laura’s hands clapped over her mouth again, “Carm, that’s bad!” Still, her hands couldn’t hide the giggles that made her whole tiny body shake. 

Her face only brightened when Carmilla gave her a small smile, “I bet he liked eating the glue cause he’s a glue eater.”

Laura nearly tipped over her giggles were so bad, instead she leaned into Carmilla and let the slightly taller girl take her weight. After a moment, Carmilla poked her in the side. Right in her ticklish spot. Laura shrieked with laughter and Carmilla’s face broke into a true smile.

“Girls!” the teacher’s voice snapped across the room, “this is time out. Not play time.”

They shuffled apart. Laura pulled her knees to her chest and pressed her face against them in an effort to stop laughing. She snuck a peek at Carmilla, the other girl was calmly sitting cross legged but a hint of a smile still whispered on her face. 

When the teacher’s attention was distracted, Laura whispered, “You wanna be my best friend?”

Carmilla straightened, her gaze locking on Laura’s. Then it softened, “okay.”

Wary of the teacher’s watchful eye, Laura settled for grinning over at her.Carmilla reached into her pocket and slowly drew out a piece of paper. When the teacher wasn’t looking, Carmilla leaned over and shoved it between Laura’s legs and her torso. 

It was a picture of a vanilla cupcake with blue sprinkles. 

#

Carmilla thought that a lot of things were stupid. Their sixth grade math teacher. Her little brother. Anyone who thought fishsticks were food. But their school’s monthly practice of making everyone sit in assigned seating in the cafeteria once a month to ‘build school community’ was the stupidiest of them all. 

It meant she couldn’t sit with Laura and Laura needed to be sitting with her best friend. 

No-one else could make Laura smile right now, not even the ginger twins, and Laura deserved to always be smiling. Carmilla couldn’t bring Laura’s mom back but she could certainly try and make Laura’s every moment a little less sad.

She’d promised Mrs Hollis but she would have done it anyway.

Right now Laura was sitting one table over, facing Carmilla. Her chin was resting on her hand as she picked at her food. Not even the chocolate brownie could tempt her to take a bite.

Carmilla shuffled in her seat and squinted at Laura. Finally, with a brief check for teachers, Carmilla loaded an artillery of 5 peas onto her plastic spoon. Closing one eye for increased accuracy, Carmilla pulled back and let the peas fly.

Her aim was phenomenal. Two peas plopped into Laura’s mashed potatoes, one bounced off her juice box, and two hit Laura right in the chest. Bullseye. 

Laura looked up as Carmilla looked down, intentionally over interested in her disgusting fish fingers and using her hair to hide the smirk on her face. She could feel Laura staring at her. The cupcake probably had that cute little furrowed brow and scrunched nose as she tried to determine if Carmilla had, in fact, just had the audacity to throw peas at her. 

Carmilla kept her head down as long as possible. When she popped back up, Laura was once again staring down at her plate, stirring the mashed potatoes like that would make them taste any better. Carmilla reloaded her spoon and fired. 

She let herself watch long enough to have the privilege of seeing one of the peas bouncing off Laura’s button of a nose. When Laura looked up she was stuffing a fish stick in her mouth and looking down at her book. Carmilla held in the shudder at the taste, peering out of the corner of her eye to see Laura squint in her direction. 

She couldn’t help it, Carmilla let the smirk creep up the corner of her mouth. She scooped up the remaining peas and fired them off before Laura had time to duck. This time she met Laura’s gaze as the peas pounded her best friend’s face. She was so close. Carmilla could see the edge of a smile, just stewing behind Laura’s face. It was somewhere behind the smushed pea in her bangs.

The eyes that met hers had a sparkle of life in them.

Carmilla should have seen it coming. Laura’s eyes furrowed in determination and, before Carmilla could make a warning motion, Laura scooped up a clump of mashed potatoes and launched them at her. 

The soggy mass flew through the air, splatting directly onto the face of the boy beside Carmilla. Laura froze, deer in the headlights as the spluttering boy reached up to wipe his face. 

“Who did that?” he screamed, standing in his seat. 

Carmilla looked at Laura, all big eyes and still gripping her potato launching spoon. Then she grabbed her entire tray full of peas, chocolate pudding, and evil soggy fish sticks and threw the entire thing at the boy’s head.

It took five seconds for the cafeteria to descend into chaos.  
Someone had managed to get Carmilla in the back with a handful of chocolate pudding before a familiar set of fingers slotted between hers, tugging her from where she was standing on the cafeteria table and chucking french fries at anyone who crossed her path. Laura pulled her behind a table, using an empty pizza box to ward off stray projectiles. 

Carmilla looked down at the smaller girl, “Nice shot, cupcake.”

Laura narrowed her eyes and said, “You just got me in trouble again.” Then a terrifying cross between a smirk and grin crossed Laura’s face and Carmilla was doused in an icy sea of red liquid. She felt the liquid weave between her hair in a sticky mess and bit of ice slid under her shirt and soak her torso. She stood in shock.

When Carmilla finally looked up, there was as huge smile on Laura’s face and a super-sized slushie cup in her hand.

An hour later the two girls were sitting just outside the principal's office, waiting for the principle to finish speaking to Laura’s dad. They’d learned fast enough not to bother with Carmilla’s travelling mother. 

While Laura had come out relatively unscathed, some french fries in her hair and a dollop of something questionable in colour and consistency on her shirt. On the other hand, Carmilla was tinted a vibrant shade of red and her hair was drying in odd, sticky clumps. 

Laura still giggled every time she looked over at Carmilla. 

Carmilla winced when Mr Hollis came out of the principal’s office, looked at them for a moment, and just sighed. They followed him out to the car and piled in the back.

“Two day suspension,” he said at last, “for instigating a food fight.”

Laura bowed her head, “Sorry Dad.”

“Sorry, Mr Hollis,” Carmilla echoed.

He shook his head, “Would either of you like to tell me why this was a necessary activity?”

“Laura has terrible aim,” Carmilla said immediately.

Laura shot her a look, “Carm, shot peas at me for no reason.”

Carmilla shrugged, “I was bored.”

“So bored you had to shove your entire lunch in that guy’s face?” Laura said, “There’s no way he would have known I threw the potatoes at him. And I didn’t even mean to throw them at him.”

Carmilla gestured to her hair, “You dumped a slushie on me.” Twisting her hair, Carmilla managed to wring out red liquid into her hand. 

Laura burst into giggles again

From the rearview mirror, Carmilla caught Mr Hollis’ eye as he gave her a wink, “Just do me one favour Carmilla? Try not to get Laura arrested? Suspensions I can handle.” He gave the girls a smile, “I even got a few of them myself. But I think a call from a jail cell might be a little more than this old man can handle. Square deal?”

“Deal.” Carmilla said. 

#

Laura prowled the school grounds, trying not to feel betrayed that Carmilla hadn’t shown up for their usual spot at lunch. If there was one thing Laura loved about high school, besides the fact that they were finally actually learning something, it was that she got Carmilla all to herself at lunch. 

She liked Carmilla’s girlfriend. She really kind of, sort of did. Well, she tried to. 

But Ell certainly dominated a lot of Carmilla’s free time and since Ell went to a different school, lunch time was designated best friend time. So it kind of hurt when Carmilla blew her off without a text or anything. 

She’d already checked all the building inside the school, even the creepy fourth floor towers that everyone said were haunted so she’d moved onto the great outdoors. First on the list was an old tree in the far corner of the property where Laura knew Carmilla liked to read when she had a free period. Like the period she’d had right before lunch.

When she got close enough, Laura noticed the small group of boys by the tree. She turned to walk away, knowing that Carmilla would never be at her tree with those idiots hanging around, when it occurred to her to wonder why those particular boys were back here.

They were probably defacing public property. 

Laura kept going. Determined to give them a piece of her mind if she saw anything evenly mildly unscrupulous going on. She didn’t expect these bullies to be much of a problem. In her experience they were all talk, no action and she could out talk anyone. Last time she’d caught them torturing a poor squirrel she’d yelled at them for five minutes and then returned the next day and forced every single one of them to listen to a 45 minute speech she’d written that night on animal cruelty. 

The one boy wouldn’t even look her in the eye anymore. 

Frowning as she got closer, Laura squinted in the sun to see what they were doing. There were three of them in a rough circle, all taking turns doing some weird dance like they were - Her eyes widened and Laura broke into run.

That was a person. 

She dropped her bag and sprinted down the field, her actions drawing the attention of a few other students. Laura hardly noticed, her tunnel vision preventing her from seeing anything but the person. She prayed it wasn’t what she thought.

But when the small person in the middle of the circle rose to their feet, there was Carmilla. 

Laura was still twenty feet away, forced to watch as Carmilla lurched forward on a clearly twisted ankle and swung wildly at the face of one of the boys. It connected but glanced off his chest like she’d hardly made the blow. Before she could react, the two other boys swarmed Carmilla. One pushing her back to the ground. The other kicking hard at her stomach.

The third boy spat on her face. 

Laura’s tunnel vision turned to red. Ever conscious thought gone from her head.

She plowed into the biggest boy from behind without a hesitation in her momentum and he toppled to the ground. Fourteen years of krav maga finally asserted themselves. Laura caught the second boy in the wind pipe with the heel of her hand, sending him spluttering to his knees. 

The third boy had time to prepare. She jabbed him sharply in the solar plexus before pivoting to smash his knee with her foot. He still got off a decent punch, socking her right in the eye. 

She kneed him in the groin and he went down. 

Laura turned, Carmilla was coughing on the ground and trying to pull herself up onto her arms. Laura immediately saw the problem, the left one was broken between the wrist and elbow. She dropped to her knees, “Carm, Carm,” she whispered, “don’t do that. Just stay down.”

Carmilla let herself be lowered back to the ground. Laura’s heart broke at the scratches across Carmilla’s face. Tears in her clothes. Dangling ankle. Hidden bruises. Still, Carmilla’s eyes met hers. 

Carmilla’s dark eyes widen and her hand drifted up to gently touch Laura’s face, “They hit you.”

“I hit them.” Laura clarified. A loud whistle sounded nearby, as someone had apparently decided to inform a teacher. 

Carmilla winced at the sound, “I got you in trouble again, cupcake.”

“Eh,” Laura shrugged, not disagreeing, “I think my Dad’s used to it by now.”

Carmilla chuckled and immediately grimaced. Laura held Carmilla’s good hand in her lap and used her free hand to brush the spit off Carmilla’s face. She wiped it on her pants and then returned her hand, letting the tips of her fingers ghost over Carmilla’s bruises. 

“I should have known,” Laura looked over, one of the boys was slowly rising to his feet. In the distance, she could just make out a teacher running over. “You’re a freak like her, aren’t you? Should of hit her harder. She deserved what she got.”

It took two teachers to pull Laura off him. 

But a week later when they were still on suspension and Carmilla was curled up next to her on the couch watching Disney movies as Laura drew on Carmilla’s cast, she couldn’t bring herself to care about getting in trouble. Her own cast didn’t even bother her that much.

#

It was when Laura blew past the third no trespassing sign that Carmilla knew Laura was serious about this. She was supposed to be the one who got them into trouble, not Laura. But Carmilla would never try to stop her. This had surpassed a mere University project. This was Laura’s mission even unto breaking the rules. 

So all Carmilla could do was grab big stick and follow her. She hadn’t quite expected to end up here. 

“Excuse me, Mr Officer Sir,” Laura was giving the policeman her best wide eyed look as he forcibly grabbed her arm, “We didn’t do anything. We’re totally innocent. You’ve got to get to the girls in the building or something is going to happen to them.”

The cop said nothing.

Laura fell against Carmilla’s side as they were shoved inside the cop car. Taking in the interior and looking down at her shackled wrists, Carmilla winced, “Your dad is going to kill me.”

Laura wasn’t even listening. She was bouncing and twisting, trying to see what was going on in the building behind them. Carmilla smiled, despite everything, watching the passion burn in Laura’s eyes. 

“They’ve got to get them out,” Laura said, “They’re in the basement. I saw them, Carm. All those girls. Then they grab us on trespassing charges?”

“They’ll get them, cupcake,” Carm said. 

“But what if they don’t,” Carmilla’s heart felt full as Laura finally looked at her, concern written all over her face, “what if they don’t save them Carm? All those poor girls.”

“Laura, it’s going to be okay” Carmilla said. 

Despite the clanking of the cuffs, Laura reached out and took her hand. Their fingers still slotting perfectly together. Carmilla felt that familiar feeling, a light buzzing in her skin and a catch in her chest that was getting harder and harder to ignore.

Two more cop cars pulled into the abandoned yard, sirens blaring and lights flashing. The officers piled out of the car and sprinted towards the building. Laura pressed herself towards the back of the car, as though she was trying to jump through the back window.

Carmilla leaned after her, keeping their hands joined. 

The two girls sat there in the back of the police car for half an hour, staring out the back window with their hands cuffed as the blue and red lights cast eerie reflections across the landscape.

Still, Carmilla couldn’t quite help but notice how the blue lights bounced off of Laura’s eyes. There was something about the way the light, it seemed to bring out the life in Laura’s eyes. While the lights drenched everything else in wavering shadows, Laura somehow seemed to glow as the police lights danced across her skin. 

“Carm,” Laura squealed, “Look!”

The door of the house swung open and the officers were rushing a handful of girls out of the building. Finally Laura slid back in her seat and sunk deep into the plush. Carmilla’s free hand fiddled with the chain of the handcuffs. Looking up, she dropped the chain altogether.

Despite being handcuffed in the back of a police car, with red, white and blue lights caressing her skin, Laura had the most innocent smile Carmilla had ever seen. And it was smiling at her.

Carmilla forgot to worry about going to jail. 

Blue like sprinkles on a cupcake. 

Red like a slushie.

White like matching plaster casts.

She let herself do something something she’d been fighting. Something she’d thought impossible or ridiculous or scary. Something that was insane given their circumstances.

Carmilla fell in love while handcuffed in the back of a cop car. 

“Cupcake,” she barely spoke around the lump that had risen to her throat, “why are you smiling?” She knew her look was intense but she was feeling too much to choke it down. Carmilla didn’t know if she wanted to choke it down.

“Because,” Laura sat up, that smile still on her face, “this is backwards. I got you in trouble.”

“Perhaps,” Carmilla whispered, “today is a day for impossibilities.”

Laura smiled and ducked her head, “I guess so.”

Carmilla released Laura’s hand to bring both her handcuffed hands up to Laura’s face. One hand cupping her cheek, the other edging her chin back up. Laura bit her lip, closing her eyes slightly as Carmilla let her thumb ghost across Laura’s face.

“Well then,” Carmilla said, “what if I have one more impossibility, cupcake?”

Laura’s eyes searched hers, still reflecting the lights. Then Laura laughed, a smile taking another form, “Then, I think you’re about to get me into trouble again. That’s my favourite thing about you.” Laura’s hands reached up to tangle in Carmilla’s hair, the handcuff cold on her neck.

Carmilla gave her a small smirk, “Can’t have that now. I remember too well that little cupcake who just didn’t want to get in trouble.”

Laura leaned a little closer, “What did she ?” Laura’s breath tickled Carmilla’s face, “Loving you means learning to love getting in trouble.”

When Carmilla leaned in, Laura met her halfway.

**Author's Note:**

> I deeply, deeply appreciate all of your support. Writing these for hours each day after work really takes a toll on me and part of what keeps me going is the smiles I get from your kudos and comments and tumblr stop-ins. So if you have a minute, please know that it's super appreciated.
> 
> This is the eleventh story of '30 Days of Creampuff' where I'll be posting a Carmilla fanfic chapter every weekday for 30 days.
> 
> I AM NOW TAKING REQUESTS! There's 30 days of this and it's as much about you as it is about me. The goal is to do all 5 pieces next week based on requests before returning to my regularly scheduled brain goo. So if you've got crazy headcannons or stories that you just really want to see, I'd love to hear them. It's waaaaaay easier for me to keep them all at one place (http://ariabauer.tumblr.com/) but drop them here if you lack the tumblr.
> 
> Stay stupendous. Aria.


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